


i tried to stop it but i already know

by MaddieandChimney



Series: Meet Cutes [13]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:41:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27436015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddieandChimney/pseuds/MaddieandChimney
Summary: She doesn't mean to snap at the poor guy struggling to get up the stairs but she's just come off a long shift and all she wants to do is sleep.Somehow she still ends up getting lost in him.
Relationships: Maddie Buckley/Howie "Chimney" Han
Series: Meet Cutes [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1927492
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	i tried to stop it but i already know

Maddie bites down on her lip when she watches the man in front of her struggling, looking around to see if anyone else is around to offer help, only to be met with the realisation that it’s only the two of them in the otherwise empty staircase. “Need some help? Getting up the stairs must be tricky with that injured leg.”

Her voice seems to take him by surprise, despite the fact she’s been awkwardly hovering behind him for the past five minutes whilst he struggled to get into the apartment building and then slowly started to make his way up the stairs when he’d seen the elevator was out of order. She’d only moved into the apartment building about a month before and she recognises him as the neighbour in the apartment across from her although she didn’t know his name or anything about him. Her neighbour is looking at her as though he’s trying to decide, and she tries to gulp down the impatience she feels rising in her because she’s just come off what was meant to be a twelve-hour shift that had turned into an eighteen-hour one and she wanted to sleep.

“Or you can carry on struggling but let me past?” It comes out snappier than anything she would usually say, on her last nerve as she gestures to the fact he’s right in the middle of the stairs, leaving no room for anyone to get past.

Again, he looks as though he’s thinking about it until she folds her arms and tries so very hard to resist the urge to roll her eyes. She’s about to give into that when he nods his head, “A little help would be great, thank you.” It’s only the flush of the cheeks and the obvious embarrassment on his face that leads her to drop her arms, walking up the few steps to wrap an arm around his waist. “I uh—it’s embarrassing really, I work for LAFD and I managed to take a tumble down some stairs during a fire.”

Oh. 

The fact that he got injured in the line of duty whilst being a hero makes her feel even worse for her initial impatience, smiling a little when he wraps his own arm around her shoulders, although she can tell he’s being wary of the amount of weight he shifts onto her. “My best friend offered to help but her wife, she’s pregnant and she needed her more and I thought we had an elevator. I’m really sorry that you—”

“No, no… it’s fine. Really. I’m sorry, I was being rude. I’m a nurse, just got off shift so I’m feeling a little worse for wear right now.” It does nothing to alleviate the guilt on his face as they take each step one at a time, “You don’t have crutches,” She points out, her eyes glancing down at his trousers to see the rather obvious shape of a splint beneath the material, “was it your knee?”

“Dislocated, badly.” His nose scrunches up and she nods her head, knowing that means at least the next six weeks off work or at least only on light duty. “I’m uh—Howie, by the way or Chimney, my friends call me Chimney…” He must notice the confusion on her face because he laughs, “maybe I’ll tell you the story of that one day.” It’s the wink that throws her off, taking her by surprise at how he can go from the embarrassed man she had started to help up the stairs just a few moments before, to the slightly smug looking one just as they get to his apartment door.

“Maybe I’ll take you up on that. I’m Maddie, no mysterious nickname I’m afraid.”

“That’s a beautiful name for a beautiful woman.” Now it’s her turn to blush, finally letting go of her grip on his waist when he moves to turn the key in the door. “Why don’t you join me for breakfast? I have bagels and good coffee, just as a thank you for getting me safely to my front door.” She thinks about saying no for a second, but there’s a grin on his face and he’s holding his door open with an arm outstretched and somehow it’s easy to push past the tiredness to nod her head, her own smile matching the brightness of his when she steps past him.

“Only if you promise to tell me why I have to call you Chimney.”


End file.
